Chapter 38: Unexpected Turn of Events (Part 1)

  When Xuan Yu True Person returned to the Heavenly Fire Cave, the sky was already bright. In the cave, Xuan Yu True Person called everyone together, looking at them with a heavy expression and a very serious face. Xuan Yu True Person said in a deep voice: "Last night, the Taixu Mountain suddenly appeared in the Demon Domain, making our six institutes spend a lot of effort to drive away those two demon immortals. Among them, several people from the Tianjian Institute were seriously injured, and two died. This made the Six Institutes decide to temporarily stop the final battle, and the competition was postponed."

  As soon as this was said, Ziyang True Person couldn't help but speak up: "What do they mean by this? Are they afraid that the first place in this round will be taken by us, so they temporarily stopped competing? This is something that has never happened since the Six Institutes' Martial Arts Competition began."

  Next to him, Jingyue Master said in a low voice: "You don't have to be impatient for the time being, it's not late to ask after listening to Shixiong finish. I wonder why this time, that demon fairy came to offend? This is Taixuan Mountain, the first sect of the Xiuzhen realm, those demon fairies chose this time to come, probably won't be without reason?" Everyone heard and looked at Xuan Yu Zhenren, waiting for his answer.

  Xuan Yu's face was heavy, and he sighed lightly: "This matter, for the time being, we are still just speculating and do not dare to be certain. Let's just say that two nights ago, when the black lotus platform of the Bai Shou Yao domain appeared on the banks of the Yellow River, it had already cost us a lot of effort, fortunately without any casualties. But just one night later, last night, that demon immortal suddenly appeared and launched a surprise attack with the most cunning 'Heart Desire No Trace' technique of the Demon Sect, instantly striking nine Tianjian Academy disciples, two of whom died on the spot. And our six academy leaders were at that time preparing to draw out today's competition list. Upon hearing the explosion, they went out to take a look and only then realized it was a demon immortal from the demon domain who had come to launch a surprise attack. The six of them immediately became enraged and chased after him. In the end, it wasn't until they were over a hundred miles away that they discovered those two demon immortals. Originally, they wanted to eliminate them, but unfortunately, the strength of those two demon immortals was truly unexpected. Their special spiritual force attacks made all of us suffer injuries that were not light. Fortunately, in the subsequent battle, we discovered that one of them had already been seriously injured, and so we launched a full-force attack on it, forcing the other demon immortal to turn back and rescue its companion, and finally, reluctantly left. If neither of them had been injured, I'm afraid we would have had to pay a considerable price to drive away that demon immortal."

  Everyone heard the words, and their hearts were heavy with worry. Ao Xue glanced at Lu Yun, and only then did she understand that it was Lu Yun who had severely injured the demon fairy last night. Thinking of Xuan Yu's words, Ao Xue suddenly felt that Lu Yun was becoming more and more mysterious, more and more impossible to see through. How many secrets were hidden on his body? No one knew. Even the leader of the teachers, Bo, had been lightly injured when attacking the demon fairy; but why did Lu Yun single-handedly deal with the demon fairy without getting hurt, and even severely injure it? Was he actually stronger than everyone else? It was really unbelievable.

  Lu Yun looked at Ao Xue, seeing her eyes slightly dimmed, and knew she must be guessing about his affairs last night. Thinking of this, Lu Yun's heart shook, wondering if he was too careless, coming to Yi Garden to learn the arts as an ordinary person without any cultivation. If in the future someone were to find out about his origins, although he could leave, the emotions between him and Ao Xue would likely be turbulent for life. Glancing at everyone, Lu Yun suddenly thought that perhaps not competing in the Six Strong Competition was also a good thing, wasn't it?

  "Master Qingyue asked, "Brother, what do you think is hidden behind these two events? Why have people from the Beast Domain and Demon Domain come here? Those two places were sealed by the high-ranking cultivators of the Cultivation Realm over a thousand years ago. How did they break through the seal and arrive here silently? Logically speaking, if they broke through the seal, our six institutes should know about it. Think about it, our Yi Garden guards the southwest Ghost Domain gate, tightly sealing off the passage between the Ghost Domain and the mortal world. The Bodhi Academy guards the Demon Domain exit, and the Dao Institute guards the Beast Domain exit. If they came out, we should have known about it in the first instance, but why are we completely unaware? What's going on here? Why did people from the Demon Domain and Beast Domain come here?" Everyone present pondered this question in their hearts."

  Ziyang Zhenren looked at Xuan Yu with a deep voice: "The ghost domain and the demon domain both come to offend at this time, it must have a reason. If it's for show-off, they can kill people and set fires arbitrarily, do something to show themselves off. But they came here, making it impossible to guess what they want. Are they so arrogant that they would come here to die? It's impossible, right? Even if they wanted to send someone to die, it wouldn't be a demon fairy level character." After finishing speaking, he looked at everyone.

  Lu Yun glanced at Ao Xue, then shifted his gaze to the crowd, seeing that everyone was deep in thought. Lu Yun said: "I think this time the Ghost Domain and Demon Domain came to this place, it's very likely that there is something on Taixuan Mountain that is attracting them. And that thing will probably undergo a major change soon, so they are eager to come here at this critical moment. They're not fools, naturally knowing we're holding the Six Institutes' Martial Arts Conference. Yet they still came, which means one thing - that thing is extraordinary. Unfortunately, the Tianjian Institute won't easily reveal this matter, so we can only guess and dare not be certain."

  Xuan Yu Zhen Ren's face changed slightly upon hearing the words, and the other five people also fell into deep thought. It was clear that Lu Yun's words were likely to be the real reason for this incident. Apart from this, everyone couldn't think of a better explanation.

  Xuan Yu Zhen Ren said in a low voice, "Lu Yun's words make sense. However, it's not convenient for us to ask directly, or the Six Institutes might fall into an impasse. For now, let's just keep it in mind and don't spread the word. Once Tian Jian Institute comes up with a plan, we'll observe from the side and slowly understand the truth. If what Lu Yun said is true, then people from Mo Yu and Bai Shou Yao Yu will come again, probably within the next day or two. The competition has been going on for several days, and everyone must be tired. Let's take a good rest while we have time. Remember, this is a critical moment, so don't wander off too far to avoid encountering Mo Yu's demons or those monsters."

  "Is there something in this world that has such charm, that the hundred beasts of the demon domain and magic domain would come forward even if it means death? I think there shouldn't be many things like that. Can big brother think of what it is?"

  Xuanyu Zhenren fell into deep thought upon hearing the words, pondering them in his heart. Lu Yun spoke again, "If what I said is true, then why didn't the Night Soul of the Hundred Beasts Demon Domain reveal even a hint of its presence that night? Is it possible that thing on Taixuan Mountain isn't even known to the Tianjian Institute? Or perhaps only one or two people in the Tianjian Institute are aware of it? And the people from the Demon Domain and the Magic Domain, in order to prevent us from discovering that secret, also chose not to mention it?"

  Lin Yunfeng took over the conversation and said, "According to you, it's understandable that the people of the demon domain didn't mention it because they're afraid we'll know their intentions. But why did the people from the magic domain come here and actively attack the people here, drawing everyone's attention? This doesn't seem to make sense."

  Everyone was stunned by these words. After a long time, Ao Xue spoke up: "Could it be that last night, the people from the Demon Domain were not just two? And what they were looking for happened to be in an important location within the Tianjian Institute, so they used the 'Tiger Leaving the Mountain' tactic to lure away the six headmasters, while the hidden person could smoothly enter and go to where they wanted?"

  Jingyue Master said, "This assumption of yours, Ao Xue, does make some sense. However, everything is still speculation at this point, and no one can be certain. The outcome will only be known in the end. This is the Tianjian Institute, we are only here to compete, it's not suitable to ask too many questions, or else you might be misunderstood."

  Xuan Yu Zhen Ren nodded slightly and said, "That's right, let's not speculate about this matter for now. I believe we'll have results soon, and when that time comes, we can study it carefully then. Alright, I'm going to take a look and see if there are any new developments. Everyone can rest or cultivate as they please." After finishing speaking, he stood up and left.

  In the Tianxuan Cave, the six palace masters gathered together, each with a heavy expression and a troubled mind. Li Changchun glanced at the other five people and sighed lightly: "This time's matter is something we've never encountered before. Does anyone have any opinions about this matter? Let's discuss it together as the six palaces."

  All around, quietly, the leaders of the other five institutes were silent, each thinking about their own thoughts. For a long time, no one said a word, they just sat there quietly. Glancing at everyone slightly, Xuan Yu Zhen Ren couldn't help but speak up first: "Actually, this time's matter, everyone understands, it's not that simple. The sudden appearance of the demon world's strange object on Tian Xuan Mountain, I'm afraid it's not just for show, right?" After finishing, his eyes were fixed tightly on Li Chang Chun's expression, unfortunately, nothing was discovered.

  "The seven Xuan Shen of the Dao Garden said: 'This time, the appearance of monsters from the Demon Realm and the Yao Realm in the human world is beyond our expectations. I have carefully discussed this with Master Fa Guo, and these monsters did not appear through their original channels. They must have found another secret channel to enter the human world, which we were completely unaware of beforehand. As for their purpose in coming here, we cannot guess at present. Perhaps Daoist Changchun knows more about this matter.'"

  Li Changchun glanced at the five people and said in a low voice, "As for this matter, we have also thought about it carefully. But for the time being, we can't think of how to explain all this. The only idea is that they are provoking our Xiu Zhen realm, indicating that they have returned to the human world and will take major action soon."

  Hao Yun of the Confucian Academy spoke up, "I think this matter is unlikely to be so simple. If they really wanted to show off their strength, they would normally stir up some trouble in the mortal realm first before coming here to cause a scene. But they came directly here without any warning, and the mortal realm hasn't heard even a whisper of rumors. This suggests that they're not here to show off, but have other intentions. With strange occurrences happening in two places just one day apart, I have a guess to make, Long Chun brother please don't get angry. I think they came here because there's something on Mount Tai Xuan that they urgently want to obtain. Looking at the situation, both the demon and magic realms are trying to take the lead, which is why they're willing to risk coming even though they know all six academies are gathered here. What do you all think of this inference? Is it reasonable?"